Alcohol and alcoholism in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The sun also rises’

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the representation of alcohol and alcoholism in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Alcohol is a salient feature in most of Hemingway’s work, as well as an important factor in his own personal life. The Sun Also Rises has been chosen as it represents the age of the Lost Generation in the 1920s: a time in which American Prohibition was taking place, and so many Americans moved to European countries. The introduction will introduce the history of alcohol; problems arising from alcohol, such as alcoholism and binge drinking; the representation of alcohol use in literature through the years; as well as introduce alcoholism in Hemingway’s personal life and The Sun Also Rises. The first chapter will focus on how the novel represents the socio-political-historical context of the American expatriate life it was written in. It will also compare the San Fermin festival to the Bacchanalia of Ancient Rome. This will show how drastically alcohol increases, losing the religious aspects of the festival and becoming a seven-day binge. The second chapter will present the idea that alcohol is not only restricted within the festival, and will show how each character produces alcoholic tendencies and destructive characteristics. This chapter will pose the question of whether alcohol is the cause of consequence of the characters’ dissatisfied lives. The conclusion will then present a comparative overview of other works dealing with alcoholism and addiction, comparing The Sun Also Rises with Hemingway’s other work, as well as other addiction fiction. This will present the novel as a small reflection on a poignant aspect of literary and artistic creation.